The Last Kingdom season 5: Fiction or History?

Will Athelstan become king?

Upon the death of Edward, Athelstan succeeds him to the throne and goes on to become the first king of a unified England, finally achieving fulfilling Alfred’s dream. These events have yet to transpire on the show, though the eventual succession has been discussed.

Historians disagree over the nobility of Athelstan’s parentage, with some describing his mother Ecgwynn as an “ignoble consort of inferior birth,” while other sources say she had, in fact, been noble. The disparate texts are undoubtedly influenced by the complicated and cutthroat politics of the time; look no further than Aethelhelm if you want to know what that looks like. However, popular opinion aligns with the show and suggests that the established lords of Wessex refused to accept Athelstan as his mother was a concubine.

However, there is evidence that before his death, Alfred honored his grandson with a special ceremony where he gifted him a scarlet cloak, a belt inset with gems, and a sword with a gilded scabbard. There are even reports that Alfred favored Athelstan as his heir over his son Edward. Whatever questions surrounded his birth, he became king nonetheless.

Unlike in the show, the real Athelstan was raised as an intellectual rather than exclusively as a warrior. He was educated in Mercia in the court of Aethelflaed and Aethelred, not in Rumcofa by Uhtred. However, that’s not to say he wasn’t a fighting king, as he gained a lot of experience fighting Vikings in Mercia.

Seven Kings Must Die will likely to show the events that lead to Athelstan’s crowning, although many specifics about event have been lost to history. Revealing too much would undoubtedly be a spoiler, but needless to say, there will be blood and turmoil, and at the center will be Uhtred of Bebbanburg.

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